FirstWoman Success Stories from Professional Women

Pam Conway is a former colleague of mine who has not only succeeded but found a way to thrive in male-dominated corporate environments.

Starting out as a Project Manager she is currently Marketing Director at Biffa and has a background in energy and utilities.

In this episode Pam shares her experience and the strategies behind her success including

• Embracing challenge and disagreement in a constructive, non-fearful way
• How to say no without worrying you're being difficult
• Welcome challenge and debate rather than avoiding conflict
• Believe in yourself and don't apologise for your perspectives.
• Changing the language you use can boost your confidence

The second part of the December episode is about me….my tips and strategies for success, and how I achieved C-suite and Board level positions in my career

I think most of these can be summarised as don't ruminate on the past and let it get in the way of moving forward

As Cindy Gallop would say "Don't look back, that's not the direction you're heading"

Success comes as a result of balancing risk vs opportunity, letting go of certainty, and trying new ideas and approaches that may or may not work: We are more likely to regret the things we didn't do so make 2024 the year for self-empowerment

When I started FirstWoman in September 2019 my initial offer was half-day face-to-face workshops. Covid and lockdown put pay to those. At the time I considered it a disaster for my fledgling enterprise but it turned out to be anything but, allowing me to expand my virtual offer globally and make a host of new friends, (some of whom I still haven't met 'in the flesh')

Since 2019 I've

• coached over 100 women

• created 3 online courses

• a YouTube channel

• this podcast

• had articles published

• run masterclasses for groups

• spoken at events and guested on podcasts

• hosted webinars and LinkedIn lives

Therefore it seems appropriate to use the last podcast of the year to summarise my own strategies and tips for success in 2 shorter podcast episodes

This first part is about how I developed FirstWoman into a successful coaching practice that has made a real impact

These are my personal learnings and tips

1. Back yourself and don't forget why you are doing what you're doing

2. Get clear on your offer first and foremost, know your audience inside out

3. Sell the solution, not the product

4. Find your audience and hang out with them

5. Don't obsess about vanity metrics. A small engaged audience is more productive than a large disengaged one

6. Invest in your Personal Brand first before spending money on a flashy website

There's something in here for every business woman whether considering making the break, starting out, or scaling up!

Last month I hosted 2 workshops for women in business. The feedback was so positive I decided to share the love and summarise the outputs in this podcast episode

Overcoming the fear and discomfort associated with self-promotion is crucial for business success.

If you don't possess budget for paid media, self-promotion is the most cost-effective way to raise brand awareness, and it's something every business owner, particularly women needs to embrace, even if it feels unfamiliar or challenging.

In this episode, I draw on the 20 or so years I spent in Advertising to share my top tips for successful pitching including

⭐️ How to reframe Self-Promotion

⭐️ Fusing your Personal Brand with your Business Brand for double impact

⭐️ Crafting a compelling Value Proposition

⭐️ Delivering an Elevator pitch for all occasions

This is a prelude to the half-day online workshops I'll be running in December and January, tickets are now available on Eventbrite

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/how-to-pitch-yourself-and-your-business-with-confidence-conviction-tickets-749071812957?aff=oddtdtcreator

Welcome to Episode 10 of Success Strategies for Professional Women

This month I'm thrilled to be chatting with Mary Shirley, co-founder of the Great Women in Compliance podcast and author of two books...oh and did I mention she achieved all this whilst holding down an executive role in Compliance and Ethics

The role of hosting a podcast and publishing a book as a way to establish your credibility and Personal Brand cannot be understated, they are both Super-Strategies but are also not without challenge

There is so much insight and solid advice in this episode, that I can't begin to summarise all the gems. It is inspiring, empowering, and relatable all at once

Mary's shares

• Her podcast experience and subsequent book
• Her unconventional motivation to author her second book
• How she used her strengths and communication style to best effect in writing about short tips and hacks rather than 'long text' format
• Her challenges in owning her success. Self-promotion as a woman and how she suffered Tall Poppy Syndrome
• How male allies remain fundamental in opening career doors and the importance of women supporting each other and sending the lift down

• ....Oh and me ranting about how women speakers should be paid!

I hope you enjoy listening to the episode as much as we did recording it

#podcast #womenleaders #personalbranding #womenempoweringwomen

Who says you can't be a leader?

Far too often women self-reject, focussing on what they can't do whilst forgetting what they can

There are so many myths about what it takes to be a good leader, no wonder it seems distant and unachievable

In this episode, I repel those myths and turn the tables by looking at how you can build a Personal Leadership Brand to adopt the authority of a Leader even if you haven't any formal experience in Leadership

With a little self-reflection you'd be surprised how many leadership qualities you already have, it's simply a case of teasing them out and repackaging your Brand and stepping into your power

#womenleaders #womeninleadership #personalbranding

Here's another take on flexible working.... job shares

The potential for job sharing especially at a senior level is nowhere near optimised.

Post-pandemic, organisations moved towards fully remote and hybrid models but many are now calling their employees back to the office, totally bypassing the opportunities presented by job sharing

I first recorded this podcast with the marketing leads at Travelers Europe in 2021 during the latter part of Covid.

Paul Hudson the VP of Travelers Europe had been inspired by his own personal and professional experience to offer his new Head of Marketing role as a job share. In addition to advertising in the usual places, LinkedIn etc he also used Mumsnet and as a result he recruited 2 very different but equally progressive women into the role

In this conversation, all three share their experiences and challenges of making this work as Marketing leads but also for the wider team and organisation

This is a Success Strategy for women, its a perfect example of how bold moves and new approaches can set women up for success.

What springs to mind when you think of "Self-Promotion"?

Arrogance? Braggy? Brazen Self-interest? Sleazy and all round a bit Cringe?

This is the reaction of many women because we have been taught from an early age that talking yourself up is impolite and as women we should be more self-effacing, servile and humble

This goes hand in hand with smiling more......

One of the many problems with this mindset is that it sets women back in terms of life and their careers. Because men have way less issue with bigging themselves up even when it's undeserving and where the optics matter, men who are visible and can articulate their success with conviction will bag the promotion. No surprise then that the Gender Pay Gap continues and we still see women under represented in leadership roles

Why women don't self-promote and the risks of doing so are well researched and documented. In this episode I've set these as context but also includes my tools and strategies for how to put yourself out there and be visible without feeling conscious and alienating those around you

Enjoy!

There are many different perspectives on Imposter Syndrome and a whole debate about whether the concept even exists

For sure it has become a proxy term for a lack of self-belief and low self-esteem which is in part why it is attributed mostly to women, despite stats suggesting 70% of people claim to have suffered from it and women are only 50% of the population. 

Without getting too much into the weeds, in this episode I talk about 3 opposing views of Imposter Syndrome

1. It's symptomatic of a 'Growth Moment' and therefore should be embraced 

2. It doesn't really exist and feeling inadequate is a function of toxic workplace culture 

3. It's a very real and potentially debilitating but misunderstood and therefore misdiagnosed 

And how those feeling of being a fraud and others having an exaggerated view of my capabilities has shaped my career over the years

Have you ever suffered with Imposter Syndrome? Let me know in the Q&A or use the poll below  

If I could land one message to every women starting out in the world of world it would be this 

Do not prioritise your job over your career. 

What got to where you are will not necessarily take you to the next level 

Many women are valued as super-competent doers, able to juggle tasks and make things happen....it's what we do in all aspects of our lives not just at work 

But this sets a precedent, 'ask her, she'll sort it for you' and before you know it, your labelled as a safe pair of hands not a potential leader

So how do you shift that perception? 

How do you find the time in your day to think rather than do? 

In this Episode I talk about how to assert your boundaries and say No to the non-promotional tasks which will stick you to the floor 

Once you free yourself up you can then concentrate on the projects and opportunities which will advance your career not hold you back 

Have you ever listened to yourself speak? Perhaps not, unless you record videos or podcasts. 

But it's a really interesting and necessary exercise if you want to pick up on any verbal bad habits....and no I don't mean swearing, I mean minimising language such as over use of 'Just' or over apologising 

Women have been conditioned to be polite and humble. Not to appear over-confident but to be nice and accommodating. This has caused many of us to flip to the passive so as not to be negatively judged. The result is a litany of words and phrases designed to minimise our contribution 

"Can I just add" 

"I'm no expert but" 

"Sorry are you busy?" 

These and many more suggest uncertainty and betray a lack of confidence which in turns destroys your authority and credibility 

Once you hear yourself saying these things it's very easy to rewire your brain but like most things, change happens when you become self-aware 

In this podcast I'll introduce these phrases, talk about how they impact your ability to be heard and what to do about it 

A quick intro to me, Mel Stanley and the Success Strategies Podcast 

Why Women need a Personal Brand more than men 

In this episode I summarise 10 of the most common barriers to success for professional women. 

These are by no means exhaustive and don't take into account the barriers we face from systemic bias and prejudice either but we have to start somewhere so this is literally a starter for 10 

1. Valuing Competency & Expertise above Visibility 
2. Perfectionism
3. Hoping to be noticed and spontaneously rewarded 
4. Reluctance to own and talk about our achievements 
5. Building Personal rather than Professional Networks 
6. People-pleasing
7. Use of minimising and self-sabotaging language
8. Focussing on your job rather than your career
9. Wanting to be liked 
10. Over analysis, paralysis